Part 2/9:
The story of this secretive operation begins only six days after the September 11 attacks, when President George W. Bush authorized the CIA to capture and interrogate suspected terrorists without adhering to standard legal protocols. Given the sense of rage and desire for revenge coursing through the nation, the CIA sought to act swiftly. However, this presented a significant dilemma: where would they take these captured individuals, and how would they extract necessary intelligence without legal repercussions and norms?
To sidestep the constraints of American law and international agreements on the treatment of prisoners, the CIA opted to construct a global network of secret prisons, euphemistically referred to as "black sites."